Koko wants Ramaphosa to answer claims of interference at Eskom

FORMER Eskom head of generation Matshela Koko says he won’t rest until President Cyril Ramaphosa is called to answer questions on allegations of interference at the power utility.

Koko returned to the witness stand yesterday to testify about Eskom-related evidence at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. When the former Eskom executive appeared in December he made a string of allegations against Ramaphosa. He alleged that the former president had interfered in the running of the stateowned entity and had been behind his 2015 suspension from the company. Koko and three other executives were suspended in March 2015 while an investigation into Eskom was being conducted. He was the only executive who returned while the others reached settlements and departed. Koko maintained that Ramaphosa had interfered in the running of Eskom between 2012 and 2014.

He claimed that Ramaphosa had done this because of a debt of over R1 billion owed by the Optimum coal mine, which was then owned by Glencore. Koko believes that Ramaphosa’s interference was linked to ensuring that this debt was not paid back.The Optimum coal mine was later acquired by Gupta-linked Tegeta.

Yesterday Koko began his testimony by asking the commission’s chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, whether Ramaphosa had been issued with a rule 3.3 notice regarding these claims. He said he would not be able to rest if Ramaphosa did not come and answer the allegations. “I just want to find out if Mr Ramaphosa has been served with a rule 3.3 notice like we all have. I really want to know why Mr Ramaphosa interfered in the affairs of Eskom by instructing the board of Eskom, which was yet to meet, to dismiss me.”